Just days after the end of the USSR, a mysterious priest becomes a martyr
In service of his beloved Orthodox Church, Father Merhum has spent decades battling Soviet apparatchiks and the KGB. Now the Soviet Union is gone, but the bureaucracy survives, and the aged priest makes plans to denounce Communist supporters, including some within the Church. He is on his way to Moscow when an assassin stops him with an ax. And as he dies, Merhum begs for forgiveness—a curious plea from a saint-to-be.
The case falls to police inspectors Porfiry Rostnikov and Emil Karpo—a ruthless detective whose eerie appearance has earned him the nickname “the vampire.” But as they dig into the past of this celebrated village priest, they uncover strange church secrets and a conspiracy that would ensure that though Soviet Russia is finished, corruption will never die.
“Rostnikov’s best outing since A Cold Red Sunrise.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Never miss a Kaminsky book, and be especially sure not to miss Death of a Russian Priest.” —Tony Hillerman
“Stuart Kaminsky evokes Russian life like a born Muscovite. . . . Don’t miss this one. It’s even better than his Edgar-winning A Cold Red Sunrise.” —The Philadelphia Inquirer
Description:
Just days after the end of the USSR, a mysterious priest becomes a martyr
In service of his beloved Orthodox Church, Father Merhum has spent decades battling Soviet apparatchiks and the KGB. Now the Soviet Union is gone, but the bureaucracy survives, and the aged priest makes plans to denounce Communist supporters, including some within the Church. He is on his way to Moscow when an assassin stops him with an ax. And as he dies, Merhum begs for forgiveness—a curious plea from a saint-to-be.
The case falls to police inspectors Porfiry Rostnikov and Emil Karpo—a ruthless detective whose eerie appearance has earned him the nickname “the vampire.” But as they dig into the past of this celebrated village priest, they uncover strange church secrets and a conspiracy that would ensure that though Soviet Russia is finished, corruption will never die.
From Kirkus Reviews
Kaminsky moves closer to becoming the Ed McBain of Mother Russia with this tale of two felonies, as Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov--in his seventh outing (Rostnikov's Vacation, 1991, etc.)--investigates the murder of elderly, politically outspoken Father Vasili Merhum in the village of Arkush, while his deputy Sasha Tkach--newly and uncomfortably partnered with Elena Timofeyeva--competes with a stone killer to comb the hot-spots of Moscow searching for Amira Durahaman, daughter of the Syrian oil minister. The only link between the two cases--the fact that Colonel Lunacharski of the KGB, hot for a public- relations coup that will consolidate his conservative political position, is plotting to steal Rostnikov's credit for solving both of them--leads to a magically effective epilogue. The usual strengths of the series--ingenious plotting, solid police procedure, and Rostnikov's shrewdly perceptive presence--are joined here by casually effective glimpses of the old Soviet Union in chancy transition. It all adds up to Rostnikov's best outing since A Cold Red Sunrise (1988). -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Review
“Rostnikov’s best outing since A Cold Red Sunrise.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Never miss a Kaminsky book, and be especially sure not to miss Death of a Russian Priest.” —Tony Hillerman
“Stuart Kaminsky evokes Russian life like a born Muscovite. . . . Don’t miss this one. It’s even better than his Edgar-winning A Cold Red Sunrise.” —The Philadelphia Inquirer